The subject matter described and/or illustrated herein relates generally to electrical cables.
Electrical cables are widely used for interconnecting components that are spaced apart from each other. Some typical examples of electrical cables include coaxial cables, triaxial cables, twin axial cables, and quadrax cables. Electrical cables may be nicked, cut, severed, abraded, and/or otherwise damaged during use. For example, an electrical cable may be cut or completely severed by a relatively sharp object. Electrical cables can also be completely severed by blunt objects that exert enough force to snap the cable. Abrasion may result from an electrical cable rubbing against a neighboring object. A kink is yet another example of cable damage. Damage to an electrical cable may impair operation of the cable. For example, damage to an electrical cable may interrupt the electrical paths of the cable such that the electrical cable is no longer capable of conveying data signals between the components.
When some known electrical cables are damaged, the cable is replaced instead of being repaired. For example, electrical cables that include more than two electrical conductors, that include conductors arranged concentrically, and/or that carry relatively high data rates (e.g., data rates above approximately 0.5 gigabits per second (Gbit/s)) are replaced instead of being repaired. Such electrical cables are replaced, instead of being repaired, because a repair will change the electrical properties of the cables. For example, an electrical cable that has been repaired may experience a change in the impedance of the cable along the location of the repair. Such a change in impedance may cause the electrical cable to experience signal losses, unwanted reflections, and/or the like along the location of the repair.
Replacing electrical cables is difficult, costly, and/or time consuming. For example, replacing an electrical cable entails disconnecting both ends of the electrical cable from the components and removing the electrical cable from the path between the components. An undamaged electrical cable must then be routed along the path and connected to the components. For relatively long cables and/or cables that are routed along complex paths and/or through tight spaces, removing the damaged cable and routing the undamaged cable may be particularly difficult, time-consuming, and/or costly. Moreover, the added cost of the undamaged cable may cause replacement of an electrical cable to be more costly than repair.